Stella Chen credits the amazing experience she had adopting with Seattle Humane and the volunteers who helped connect her with her new pets as the inspiration for becoming a volunteer herself. After only a month as a Cat Care volunteer, Stella gave fostering a go and has never looked back!
“The foster staff are so kind and supportive, and I got to know so many wonderful foster parents,” she says. “I’m incredibly grateful to be part of this community!”
Stella’s favorite foster cats are the ones who help her learn new things about herself and what she’s capable of. She recently fostered a timid, 2-year-old cat named Cardamon. She says it was incredibly rewarding watching her come out of her shell.
“At first, she wouldn’t eat and spent all her time hiding in the corner,” she says, “but slowly, with some patience, love and my foster helper—my orange tabby, OJ—she opened up and eventually became comfortable enough to play and run around the house. She taught me just how patient I could be, something I hadn’t fully realized before.”
While OJ is her foster helper, Stella has two other Seattle Humane alumni at home, Mochi (FKA Meatloaf) and Coco II (FKA Marve Pale). Mochi and OJ are very affectionate brothers, she says, while Coco II “thinks the boys are silly so she does not really care about them.”
“Being a cat parent myself definitely gives me a foundation for fostering,” Stella says. “I am a researcher by training, so I also really enjoy researching cat care documents and tutorials, and I found those super helpful for caring for my own cats as well as my foster kitties.”
Stella says she finds a sense of purpose and fulfillment in preparing her foster cats for their journeys home, and her husband’s amazing photography skills really make the cats in her care pop when added to their online profiles. She’s also now one of only three volunteers who fosters cats with ringworm, a common but stubborn fungal infection.
“There’s a unique joy and satisfaction in seeing an animal transform and grow in a safe, loving environment, whether it is recovering from a medical condition, or gaining confidence around people,” she says. “It’s hard to put into words, but I know many foster parents share this feeling.”
The original Coco passed away unexpectedly last year, and she says sharing her toys and bedding with her foster cats and kittens created a greater sense of connection for her.
“I like to think that Coco is watching from above,” Stella says, “happy to be helping other kitties in need through me.”
Stella encourages anyone thinking about fostering to give it a try, adding saying goodbye is the hardest part but she knows there are many more pets in need of her help.
“The joy and fulfillment I got from fostering is just indescribable. Seattle Humane has a great foster program and amazing resources!” she says. “I got so much help from foster staff and other foster parents. Everyone cares about the animals deeply and would like you to succeed!”
